Building Blocks of Chocolate
by baby.turtle.cute
Summary: Some one has to keep Willy Wonka in line. And it's poor Julia's job.
1. Chapter 1

Building Bricks of Chocolate

Chapter 1: Job Interview

I looked myself over in the mirror for the hundredth time this morning. My application for the new confectioner, Willy Wonka, had come to something. I was only applying for the part of personal assistant, but it was better than working for the local social services office. I smoothed my blue suit out for the millionth time. I inhaled deeply, soothing my nerves completely. I would really only be working on the paper work, not that hard not much to learn. I looked at my watch, grabbing my coat I ran out the door. I looked up at the sky, that horrible drab grey English sky. I missed my own American sky so much, but work was work. Cherry Street was not very far from the small apartment where I lived. Taking brisk steps, I barely beat the rain that poured the moment I stepped through the door.

In the waiting room, there were several blonde girls, mostly wearing skimpy clothes and snapping their gum. It unnerved me slightly. I hoped dearly that this Wonka man was not sight based; ah me, what was I saying all men were. I handed my resume into the person at the desk. I took my seat and sized my competition up. Most of the girls, as I said were blonde and skimpily dressed, also they were skinny, almost anorexic looking. The one next to me had nose ring and her lips lined in dark black lip liner. Mentally, I prayed that she did _not_ bend over anywhere near my line of sight. I looked down at my shoes. They were frumpy, I guess, but what was to be expected. I compared myself to the girl on my left, she was tall, blonde, skinny, and I suppose other things that men would think good about her commended her. I, on the other hand, was shorter, my hair was dark jet-black and my clothes, well there was something to imagine about me. I tried to make some conversation, but mostly the other girls were on their own little planet. I did hear one of them say how attractive this man was supposed to be.

"I hear that he like is going to give his new secretary like all the chocolate she wants." One of the others said.

"Oh my gosh, I so totally hope that's true!" Another replied.

I laughed mentally. "_Well, that explains most of the girls here."_ I thought sardonically with a roll of my green eyes. Another girl came out of the interview room. She was giggling childishly.

"Julie Carpenter?" I heard my name called finally from over the P.A. system. I stood and walked into the interview room with an air of purpose. A man sat at an oversized cherry wood desk. He was concentrating on his paper work (which I incidentally noticed was a poorly drawn squirrel). I was there for ten minutes, before I cleared my throat.

"Is this your appli- applicationmabob?" He held out my paper.

"Yes, sir it is." I replied reaching for it, but he snapped it back. I sighed and took a moment to observe the room. It was extremely unkempt and messy. "Here is a list of my references, sir."

"Great" His voice was childlike. I don't believe he even looked at it. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" He said the last word with a childish distain.

"No, sir, I believe that dating inside-

"Great, I don't care." He cut me off, for the first time, Mr. Wonka looked at me. His hair was dark brown and cut close to his head, and his eyes were violet. "You're hired kay?"

"Mister Wonka, this is the most unusual interview I've ever had. Have you even looked over my references?"

He just continued his drawing. "Did you say something?"

"Yes-

"No, all righty then, you got the job." He laughed weirdly. I raised a thin black eyebrow at him. I opened my mouth to protest. "And your first job is to tell all these girls to leave. They have cooites!" He cried. I wasn't about to argue with the man. He was giving me a job, with such little insight. I watched him take all my papers and shove them in the trash.

"I… d do?" I stammered. I was terribly shocked.

"What, you got wax in your ears?" He giggled strangely.

"Ye- yes sir" I turned to the door. _"Oh dear," _I thought ruefully. _"This is going to be a long time running."_ I opened the door and looked at the other hopefuls. I sighed and trying to think about what I was giving up as far as working for the government. Then, that was the American government, not then English government. I had never been one for chocolate, but I was not about to turn down this man in his proposal to allow me to be his personal assistant. Naturally, as with many things, I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this man.

I walked through the door. "Ladies!" I called; no one paid attention "HEY!" I screamed this time in my less formal more American voice. The door to the office clicked open and out walked out a top hat and a coat. "Mr. Wonka, can I help you?" I asked blushing; obviously, I had been too loud.

"For why are you yelling, lady?" He pointed at me. I didn't get to answer, one particularly skinny girl saw Willy Wonka and screamed his name. We barely had time to blink before a stampede of girls came at us, all screaming his name. I jumped out of the way, but he just stood there with a deer in the headlights look.

"Mr. Wonka!" I yelled trying to push all the girls out of the way. No such luck, these girls were determined to get a piece of my employer- correction, former employer. I wanted to scream in frustration, sit down and cry, and then go back to America and admit defeat to my parents. I couldn't do with out their connections.

"LADY! Help!" He called out to me. I grew a little with determination; maybe I hadn't lost my job yet. I pushed through the girls. Finally, I arrived at a central pile of girls, who were screaming.

"I got his hat" or "I got his coat" among other things. They were all piled on top of Wonka, I could see his arm sticking out, and there was a foot in another spot. It was such a riot that if I jumped in I was sure to be eaten alive. I sighed and my eyes landed on a red box on my left. I jumped over some girls and pulled the fire alarm. As the sprinkler system went off, all the girls began screaming and running. The idea of getting wet was not appealing to these girls. They shrieked and ran away, I ran to Mr. Wonka and pulled him into the office.

"EW! YUCK!" He yelled. I gasped and leaned on him. He was pulling funny faces and looked like a little boy. "I've got to get cootie shots!"

I furrowed my brow. "Those aren't real." He glared at me and pouted. "Mr. Wonka, there are no such things as cootie shots." I repeated.

"Yeah-huh, I keep a stash of them in my drawer." He declared, still pouting. He held up his finger in the wait fashion. He scurried into his office, coat billowing behind him. He came out a minute later holding something that looked like a cigar box. He popped it open inside were four old fashion needles. He took one out and shoved it in his mouth. "See," he said, mouth still full. "It's a candy. It keeps you from getting sick" He shuddered. He took one out and before I could protest, he popped one in my mouth. I did feel a little better; suddenly my arms started itching. I pulled up the sleeve, there were large green splotches showing up on it.

"Erm, Mr. Wonka, is it supposed to do that." I asked him showing him my arm.

"Yup, it'll go away in a few days." He gave me a zany smile. "But until then you should wear long sleeves."

I know I blinked several times before the reality set in for me. "WAIT!" I shrieked. "This can't last for a few days Mr. Wonka, I look like I have some sort of fungus!" He laughed and patted my head. I wanted to strangle him, at his insensitiveness. I growled and ran my fingers through my hair. "This is insane." I muttered under my breath. "What else could possibly go wrong?" I growled. From somewhere inside his office there was a loud explosion. "Oh my word!" I cried. I threw his door open and found him standing him there sheepishly. There was a large blue cloud of dust settling everywhere. Suddenly, something hit me in the face. I coughed and wiped my eyes. I checked my fingers and found blue powder all over them.

"Isn't it great?" Wonka asked excitedly. "It's this new candy I'm inventing, but I have got all the bugs out yet." He looked at me and started giggling manically. "Well, you're kinda messy aren't ya?" He laughed. I held my tongue; this man was slowly grinding away at my extremely short patients.

"Yes, I am" I grabbed a handkerchief from my pocket and wiped everything off my face. "But, why pray tell, is it exploding?" I asked irritated.

"Well, like I said I haven't really got all the bugs out. But you see you take this powder, and poor a little water in it." As he talked he demonstrated. I assumed that it was the water making it explode.

"MR. WONKA!" I yelled, too late he pour a whole bottle of water in to the pot. I squeaked and ran back into my office. I barely shut the door when I heard an explosion. I waited for a few minutes so nothing left over would splat me in the face again. I took that moment to look myself over; my dark blue suit (my favorite one might I add) was ruined. That blue powder stuff covered it. I wiped it off the best I could, and sighed. As I went back into the room, I saw Mr. Wonka sitting on the desk, whistling. He was still covered in blue, and he just seemed content to be that way.

"I think I should try something other than water, maybe chocolate milk. Yeah…"

"The milk would curdle waiting the shop." I said rubbing my forehead.

"What?" He asked.

"The milk, it would curdle," I repeated.

He pouted and crossed his arms. "Well, then I'll just have to make a new kind of milk that won't curdle." He harrumphed. I sighed again and nodded. "Well, you go do some paper work stuff." He waved me out of the room. "Shoo" I turned and suddenly found myself on the other side of the door. I sighed and went back to my desk. No time like the present to organize.

"Folders, paper work, filing cabinet, need Wonka's signature." I placed the papers and such on the desk in neat little organized piles. I refused to turn around and see all the other papers that were still in disarray. I kept muttering to myself. I was deep in concentration, so when my cell phone went off it terrified me. My ring tone, a Captain Jack Sparrow quote, scared me into thinking that another man- that was not my present employer- was in the room. I screamed and realized it was my phone.

"HELLO!" I snapped.

"Hello, dere gurlie," the person imitated one of the trolls from the tenth kingdom ©, and then in a regular voice continued. "What happened you never called?" It was the voice of my best friend Lissa Kendrick, my only friend here in Europe. I sighed.

"Hey Lissa, I've got the job. So be happy, actually I'm at work right now." I held the phone between my shoulder and ear so I could continue working. She gave a delighted squeal and I grimaced.

"Oh, you want I should let you go." She asked her voice pitch changed from happiness to worry.

"Nah, Wonka's a little, well wonky"

"Wonky?" She repeated. I wasn't sure if it wasn't an American word or what, but she didn't seem to know it.

"Yeah, it means weird and crazy."

"Oh, my stories on the telley got to go." She hung up. I sighed and looked at my watch. It was five, well past any lunchtime, as if on cue my stomach grumbled. I sighed and knocked on Mr. Wonka's door.

"PLEASE ENTER!" He called over the intercom system. I went into the room. "CLOSE THE DOOR!" He continued. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

I sighed. The man was like a kid in a principal's office. "Mr. Wonka, I'm leaving for the day." He stopped playing with the intercom and looked at me.

"But you can't leave"

"_But I can't pay the rent"_ No, Julie focus on the fact that your employer just told you that you cannot leave. "Mr. Wonka, it's quitting time and I need to go home and feed my fish."

"You have to stay."

"_You must pay the rent."_ I shook my head and focused. "Mr. Wonka, I'm leaving, I'll give you my phone number and address." I told him.

"I want you to stay that's final." He crossed his arms and pouted.

"_I'll pay the rent."_ That is it, I'm going home. "Mr. Wonka, I'm leaving." I took a piece of paper and quickly scribbled my phone number and address on it. "If you need me you can reach me at this phone number." I handed him the paper. He took it and looked at it. "Good day Mr. Wonka" I turned and left.

"But, Lady, I need you to assist me and do stuff!" He yelled following me.

"Good day Mr. Wonka." I called over my shoulder.

"No, You can't leave!" He yelled again stamping his foot. I sighed and turned around. He was standing there with his arms crossed. "You're supposed to stay here and work for me!" He shouted. I crossed my arms and looked down and my feet. Green splotches covered them.

"_Fantastic,"_ I thought sarcastically. I'm not sure which horrible thing it was that was fantastic. Both I suppose. "Mr. Wonka" I said firmly. "I need to go home, you need to go home. We both need to go home." From some random spot in the back of my mind, an old nursery rhyme poked out at me. _"I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream."_ No, Julie, again with the focus.

"But… But… why?" He stuttered, his bottom lip quivering in the most childlike manner.

"To eat, bathe, sleep so we can get up and do this all over again tomorrow." I explained making wide arm gestures. He just looked at me and I stared back daring him to say "But why". He didn't, so I turned to leave again. I opened the door to the front office and water hit me in the face. I looked up at the water sprinklers that were still pouring down. "WHY DO YOU DO THESE THINGS?" I screamed at no one in particular. I pulled out my cell phone and called the fire department.

"Lady, what are you doing?" Mr. Wonka approached me. He looked at the sprinklers. "Why is it raining inside?" He asked. Something about this place makes a body loose focus. I suddenly imagined that I was a kindergarten schoolteacher and he was the little kid asking me ridiculous why questions. I just narrowed my eyes at him and tried to shake the image from my head. "Yeah, in door rain…." He muttered trailing off. As he walked away, his coat swished behind him.

I had to wait for thirty minutes, before the fire men got there. Some one quickly shut everything off and just stared at me. "Miss, there's enough water in there to water a small farm." One man stated. "How could you not notice?"

Several different things ran through my head. "I didn't notice because…

… I'm stupid and I have no clue why.

… I was so lost in your lovely blue eyes.

… My employer is off his beanpole, better yet, the beanpole had been hacked to bits and used as animal fodder.

… My day has just completely stunk, like sour milk.

I finally settled on "… it's just one of _those _days." He smiled and looked at me pityingly.

"Well, I'm sure it's going to get better." He chuckled with the cutest English accent. "My name is Hugh Wolfson, and if I give you my phone number you'll promise to call me?" He smiled. I furrowed my brow at him. I knew I looked absolutely heinous, so he must have a lot of pity for me.

"Yes, of course, because you're either very blind or just that sweet, it doesn't matter, both benefit me."

"I think it's the sweet one, here" He handed me the number on a sheet of paper from his pocket.

"Thanks, my name is Julia Carpenter." I took it and stared at it. I tried to decipher what type of person he was from his handwriting, not much luck though.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Miss Carpenter."

"Yes, it was very nice." He shook my hand and walked away. I trudged through the water. It was getting in my shoes and annoying me. I squished the whole way home.

I threw open my door and tottered inside. I sighed as I plopped on my sofa recounting the day. Could I handle a mental case of a boss? Yes, maybe, no, I don't know…. Any more days like today and I just might quit. I looked down at my arms and legs. they were still covered in green splotches. One thing was for sure; he was never sticking anything that was not clinically tested down my throat again. I peeled my wet shoes off and put them by the door then I went to take a shower. Maybe I could get some of this blue gunk out of my hair.

_She's out of our hair, and when I said dare she said oh contraire, but she out of our hair! _I palmed my forehead. I thought I left the inability to focus at work, but apparently, it followed me home like a little puppy dog. Wasn't that just so fantastically wonderful. My mind sauntered off to a certain Mr. Hugh Wolfson, he was really sweet and handsome. He was tall and broad his eyes were a lovely blue, goodness, do I sound British or what? His hair was sandy blonde and he had good teeth. What I mean by good teeth was they were better than usual. I had braces when I was younger, so I knew what a pain it was.

I got out of the shower and opened the bathroom door. I started down the hall towards the kitchen. "Oh don't bother going in there love, you don't have anything." I screamed and almost dropped my towel. I searched frantically for the source of the voice praying that I wasn't delusional. I wasn't yet, thankfully. I was Lissa, sitting on my couch watching my DVD of the Patriot.

"Lissa, how, who when why are you here?" I stammered.

"Door was open," She explained not turning away from the television. "You Yanks got this all wrong."

"That doesn't matter, Lis, what are you doing here." I asked going into the bedroom. She followed closely behind and opened my towel closet.

"They shut my electric off, water, and gas." She shrugged. "So I though us being such good friends could bunk up." I opened the door a crack and looked at her.

"Get a job!" I said firmly. "It will open a whole new world."

"But, Jules," She whined. "I'm a starving artist, have a heart." She pleaded make that face that looked like pouting cat. I came out fully dressed. I had to stifle the laughter picturing Mr. Wonka with that self same pout. "Well"

"Everyone has a heart, Lissa, we couldn't live with out them." I laughed. She narrowed her eyebrows and became indignant. She crossed her arms and gave me a mean look. "All right," I said finally, "I guess you can stay." She squealed and hugged me. "Ah, under one condition though."

"Condition?" She repeated.

"Yes, _condition_," I said holding my finger up. "You have to get a job," She balked. "Don't argue, or go to the shelter." She harrumphed, but agreed.

"Fine" She snarled. "I don't get what your obsession with jobs." Lissa pushed her dark black hair with bright pink streaks in it back. I sighed. She was so different from me, so I would naturally get her as a best friend. Lissa was an artist, trying to get a break. Her eyes were brown and she was always dying her hair funny colors. I didn't argue since she was the one who helped me get my apartment and everything when I got here. I sighed and looked at the fridge, it was so empty. I guess that was the point of having a job, to get money, to buy food. I thought about Mr. Wonka at the store on Cherry Street. It was ridiculous to think that the man thought I couldn't leave to go home. He was a strange man. I sort of wondered what that stemmed from, the man was so weird, like beyond all reason.

_Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka, he's the one that your about to meet. He's the genius who just can't be beat. _

You know it's going it's going to be one of _those_ days when you wake to find crickets doing water ballet in your shower. As I woke up to find the crickets, green splotches, and a jobless garbage disposal, I knew it was going to be worse than just one _those_ days. I just stared at the crickets, "They are not doing water ballet and you're sleep deprived." I tried to comfort myself and pretend that I was delusional. I was hungry, so I followed my stomach into the kitchen. I opened the fridge hopefully and slammed it shut. I swear the olives were blinking at me. "That's it!" I yelled. "I'm cleaning this refrigerator out."

"What's all the yelling for?" Lissa asked sleepily. She came into the kitchen rubbing her bleary brown eyes. "Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?"

"Well, wake up and get some ambition." I snapped. "The olives were blinking at me. We in America take that as a sign to clean the fridge out." I said as I got a trash bag and some rubber gloves.

She snorted. "If you're going to clean that _fridge_ out, get a HAZMAT suit, love." Lissa laughed as she went towards the bathroom. I heard the shower curtain open, and then shut again. She came out with her lips in a thin straight line. "You do know that there are crickets doing water ballet in your shower, right." She asked with an insane smile.

"Oh goody, now I know I'm not crazy." I said sardonically. I ruefully shrugged as I stuffed some yodeling bologna into the back. It started hacking. _Now I know I'm crazy._ I thought. I continued to pull out disgusting rotting food. I don't know what became of Lissa. Somewhere in my concentrating, I heard her scream. "Look out, it's got blow torch." I just assumed that I was going a little crazier. I started wondering if working for Mr. Wonka was going to be worth it. Yesterday, I had normal life, filled with normal things. Now, well now, a cricket was chasing my best friend around with a blowtorch.

The alarm on my cell phone started ringing. "Oh, darn, it's that time already?" I asked myself. I ran into my bedroom. I took a shower last night, so I didn't bother to deal with the pyromaniac crickets. I threw on a pair of pants and a turtleneck. I pulled my hair back into a messy ponytail and started running out the door. "Lissa, at least attempt to look for a job today, please."

"All right, fine, after I beat the cricket in a game of cards." She said. I just closed my eyes and pretended that I didn't hear that.

I practically ran all the way to Cherry Street. I didn't get the sonic boom I was hoping for, but I do think I heard my lungs explode. I panted as I ran into the office. "Good" Pant, pant "Good Morning". I said to my boss as I leaned on his desk.

"Lady!" He shouted. It scared me half to death. "You're back!" He jumped to his feet. "Good." He said. "Now get to work." I sighed. I wasn't about to argue with the man. I'd have a better time reasoning with a three year old. I went back into the desk and looked out into the factory. There weren't any people. I sighed. Maybe he opened later than usual. _Hardly good for business._ I thought with a great amount of distain.

Of course, when noon rolled around and no one was here, I got suspicious. I pushed my chair back ignoring the rude noise it made. I walked a few steps to Mr. Wonka's room. I knocked, but there was no answer. I sighed. This was getting old fast. I threw the door open and was immediately covered in a black gummy substance. I flexed my jaw. I couldn't think of anything to say. I was just so flabbergasted. If this continued, I would have no more clothes. I looked at myself and stammered. Well, it was more of whimper really, the kind you make when you're so shocked that you can't think of anything intelligent to say.

"Oh, Lady" He said. "Come here" He grabbed me by the hand and started dragging me. I was still too stunned to protest. Yes, that's how appalled I was. He dragged me a few steps to a large burgundy velvet curtain. "All right, since you are my assistant, and you have assist me. I want you too" He walked over to a large golden tassel and gave it a good hard jerk. It wooshed back dramatically, revealing a large tank filled with sharks. I jumped back and stared at it. "All righty, then, smear this all over yourself and get in."

I gave him an incredulous glare. "What?"

"Oh come on, you got wax in your ears?" He said bouncing on his feet childishly. "Take all this" He motioned to a large vat. "And get in there." He said as if it was the most normal thing ever. I disagreed greatly. "Come on, let's boogie." I looked at him, then the vat, then and the sharks several times. I tried to see his point in doing this, but alas, I was blind. I decided immediately that the whole of the matter was: Willy Wonka was crazier than a…. My train of thought crashed and burned right then and there. I saw Mr. Wonka taste the stuff I was about to wear all over my body. I was quiet for only a second more before I passionately screamed.

"WHAT IS YOUR MENTAL DEFECT?" I yelled at him loudly. He jumped and gave me a look. "I mean, what is the point of doing this?"

"Well, it's a shark repellant suit, silly. Everyone knows that sharks hate licorice." He said in a duh tone. I crossed my arms and tried not beat the man. He was driving _me _insane, which was not hard to do, apparently. Last I checked most sane people didn't have crickets that do water ballet at home. And I'm fairly certain that their processed meat didn't sing.

"Of course, a shark repellant suit, why didn't I think of that?" I replied in that tone people use when dealing with small children and potentially crazy people.

"Because you're not the genius chocolate maker, duh." He knocked on my forehead. It took all of my self-restraint not to throw him into the vat of licorice and then into the shark tank.

"NO!" I yelled. "I wish to have an ambulatory lifestyle thank you. Mr. Wonka, if you want some one to do crazy things for your own personal amusement, then you'll have to hire workers." Oh yeah, I suddenly remembered why I came into this mad house to begin with. "Mr. Wonka, where are the workers?"

"Workers?" He repeated staring at me blankly. I nodded my head furiously. "Workers." He narrowed his eyebrows as if he were trying to think. The most active word in that statement is "trying". "Workers…. Yeah, workers," He started saying it over and over again.

"What is there an echo in here?" I asked. "Mr. Wonka, the store can't open unless you have workers." I explained crossing my arm.

"Well then lady, you're my assistant, go get some!" He demanded. His eyes got wide. I sighed. "Tick Tock Lady!" Suddenly, that inability to focus from yesterday came back and the nursery rhyme "Hickory Dickory Dock" started playing in my head. I rubbed my face and tried not strangle something. "All right Mr. Wonka, I'll be back later." I went back into my office. I sat down and buried my head in my hands. This was fantastic, really. I was going crazy "For you touch me once and you'll know it's true…" I started thinking about that song. "Oh, goodness, I really am going crazy." I shook my head and grabbed up the phone. "Hello, information, will you give me the number to the inspectors office." She connected me.

"Hello, James Van Buren, private investigator..." I slammed the phone down. The dumb operator gave me an investigator's number, stupid girl. I tried again however. I figured that I should get this place inspected and hope he tells me what exactly I need to do. It was going to be difficult trying to get Mr. Wonka to agree to anything conventional, but that was going to have to get over it. I was going to go about this properly, no sense in getting up just to shut down. I waited for the phone to ring. Finally, I got some one on the other side. It was scheduled for ten am, tomorrow morning.

TBC…..


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Willy Wonka and the Health Inspector

Chapter 2: Willy Wonka and the Health Inspector

I went home after a grueling day of work, only to find that my roommate was still sitting on my couch watching television. Lissa smiled widely as I walked in. "Guess what!" She said excitedly. "I got some great job offers. You should be really proud of me!"

"I am" I replied smiling. Two days of working for Mr. Wonka and I was unable to focus on anything, including polite conversation. When Lissa said guess what, my mind raced back to a line in the Lion King. "I despise guessing games." I was glad that Lissa was going to get a job. I wasn't one to have a beast of burden on my shoulders, not that she was or anything. I was grateful for her friendship, but I didn't want to be her stepping-stone to being a burden on society. It was a similar story, with my father. If his roommate hadn't pushed him into a job, father never would have become as rich or as successful as he was. Of course, he probably wouldn't be as overbearing as he is, but the lifestyle it afforded my family was wonderful. It was a nice trade off in my opinion. I went into the kitchen and stared at the refrigerator. "Is there anything edible in there?" I asked staring at it timidly.

Lissa gave me a toothy smile and laughed. "Unless you want singing meat." I wrinkled my nose and made a sick face. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She laughed. We sat down and chatted for a while. There was nothing really major happening. I told her about Mr. Wonka and his shark tank. She thought I was lying, I'm sure, but still it made for a funny story. I showed her the splotches on my arms. They were a little faded now, but still very visible. I hoped they would come off soon. After a while, it got late and we went to sleep, or at least I did, I had to get up early in the morning. I had a health inspector to meet.

I got up early and got dressed for work. I left early and bought a plastic rain poncho, and a pair of rain booties. Ha, I had him beat now; I just know I did. He wouldn't be able to get anything on me until after the health inspector came. It wouldn't look that good if I was covered in goop. I hope that the inspector wouldn't want to see Mr. Wonka's office. No telling what sort of atrocities he had in there, the man was insane. I walked out of the store looked at my watch. "Oh, man, it's nine forty-five already?" I asked no one in particular. "Oh, this is just spectacular!" I growled. I started running across the street not paying attention to the on coming traffic, as there wasn't that much of it. I think that some where in the great scheme of things I signed a contracted stating I would do everything the stupid way, because an intelligent person would look for on coming traffic. As I was running across the street, a car swerved out of no where. I heard it trying to screech to a halt, but I just stood there with a deer in the headlights look. Of course it hit, just enough to knock me on to the ground. I just lay there thinking. "I've fallen and I can't get up, better yet, I'm not going to get up. And I pity the fool who tries to make me get up." I think I got a sinister little smile on my face, just because I felt my mouth curl upward.

"Oh, gosh, Miss, are you all right?" a masculine voice asked me. I assumed that it was the voice of the driver. I opened my eyes and craned my neck to look at him. "Here let me help you." He sat me up and started rambling about how sorry he was, he even handed me my purse. I sat there and I was nearly in tears. Ever since I had this job my life had been one big trial, and my boss was insane. It was all welling up and I need some one to take my anger out on, and this man was perfect for the job. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM, YOU STUIP JERK?!" I screamed. I snatched my purse from him and hit him with it. "Did you not see me?" I shouted. The man just looked at me strangely.

"I'm sorry." He said indignantly. I stared at him. Gosh, why did he have to be so stinking cute? He had a strong jaw line and the typical British features a sharp nose and a small mouth. His eyes were grey and his hair was dark brown. He was nicely dressed too, meaning he probably had a good job. Stinking junk, why does the world hate me so much? "Perhaps you shouldn't have crossed when there was traffic." He snapped back at me.

"Well, last I looked, pedestrians had the right of way!" I pulled my self to my feet and stalked off. I was angry, muddy, and late.

The thing about my life lately was that it seemed it going from bad to worse and just when I thought things couldn't get any worse they did. I opened the door to the office and found it covered in a sticky green material. I just stood there with my hand on the doorknob, thinking of all the ways, I was going to kill Wonka. I mean seriously, he was going to die a slow and painful death. No wait, I wasn't going to kill him yet; I was going to maim him first. I shut the door again to see if it would go away, but no such luck, when I opened it back up the waiting room was still a mess. I sighed and went to look for my soon to be dead employer. I opened his office door to find him laughing at something. I squinted my eyes to see what it was only to find it was a man dressed in a nice suit that was covered in green goop. "ARUGHAHHH!" was all I could manage. That was the health inspector. Mr. Wonka had just blasted the health inspector.

"Oh, Lady, hey" He chuckled. "This is," He looked to the other man standing there with grey eyes. "Well, I don't know who this is, but he says he has an appointment." I nodded at him dumbly. I didn't know if there was anything that could be done to salvage what was left of this. "Did you see my experiment?" He asked excitedly. I ignored him and walked over to the health inspector, but he continued. "It was supposed to be colored chocolate wall paint for kid's room, but it sort of exploded." He laughed, "but it still tastes good right?"

"I wouldn't know Mr. Wonka, I don't go around licking walls." I helped the man take off his jacket and handed him a Lysol sanitary wipe from my purse. As he wiped off his face, I could see more of his features coming though. They were extremely familiar. He turned to look at me and then I realized where I had seen those grey eyes before. I completely froze and started making little squeaking noises. I think this would qualify as my horrible day getting worse. It was the man that hit me with his car; the one that I was so rude to. He stared at me for a few minutes.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked, and then he narrowed his eyes at me. "Wait, didn't I hit you with my car this morning?" I was still dumbfounded and making a squeaking noise. He ended up staring at me for a few minutes while I tried to put some semblance of a thought process together.

"_Gosh, girl, say something, he's talking to you_" I thought ruefully. I some how managed a very small "Yes". After that my mouth just wouldn't stop running, I started rambling, or rather I spoke so fast that all my words ran together. "imsosorrythatiwasrudetoyouthismorningifihadknownthatyouweretheinspectoriwouldhaveneversaidallthosethingsi'msorry." Just as suddenly as my mouth opened, it snapped shut and I just stared at him. He stared back at me quizzically. I closed my eyes and heaved a breath trying to calm down. I opened my mouth to repeat myself, but he stopped me.

"Please, don't talk anymore, I don't understand you yanks anyway." He waved me off and rubbed his forehead. Health inspector or not, he could go jump in the lake, it was one thing to insult me and tell me to shut up, but don't you dare get America or Americans caught up in this. I was incensed.

"Excuse me," I snapped. "I know you could understand me this morning, so unless you have waxy build up in your British little ears, I suggest you hear this." I placed my hands on my waist and cocked my hips. "I know my apology was a little askew, but I still tried to apologize to you, and then you go and insult Americans. Last I checked we were the national superpower." I wanted to say a slue of mean things, but nothing came to mind. I wanted to say something about saving their sorry little tails in WW1 and WW2, or kicking said sorry little tails in the American Revolution. I didn't though. The health inspector's face scrunched up. "That said, I would like to get on with my miserable day and I need you to tell me what I need to do." I finished and crossed my arms. He opened his mouth several times to say something, but not that much could be said.

I sighed. "All right, I'm Julia Carpenter, Mr. Wonka's personal assistant." I put my hand out for him to shake it. I had forgotten about the green goop all over the man, so when he shook it, he covered my hand in the stuff. I sighed. Of course, that would be the way it went, I wouldn't be able to go home a day with out finding myself covered in one of Mr. Wonka's experiments.

"Very well then, hello Miss Carpenter, I am James McEwen." I nodded. "Shall we start this process with out your employer?" He asked me. I looked around for a crushed velvet coat and purple top hat, but I could find them anywhere.

"I guess so," I shrugged. I had a vague idea of where Mr. Wonka was. It was probably behind that curtain where he kept that infernal shark tank, but what exactly would I say to Mr. Mc-Stupid head- Ewen. _"Oh yeah, my boss is behind this curtain here, let me make sure he's not swimming in the shark tank._" It sounded stupid even to me, with everything that I had been through these past few days. I showed him through my office and down stairs. He started inspecting the place, rattling off a list of things that I need to make it completely safe. I wrote them down as we went, and before I knew it, we were laughing and joking like old friends. It was really strange considering this morning's events. He wasn't actually that bad of a man. I liked him, and he was cute.

"So, is your employer really insane?" He asked me, after a little while.

I wanted to say yes, but that wouldn't sound really great. "No, he's not, he just seems that way." I said as we looked over everything in the bathrooms. He laughed. "Actually, he's some what of an inventor, and as soon as the shop opens up, I'm sure he'll make wonderful money." I continued.

"Yes," Mr. McEwen said. "Well, with increase of jobs, there'll be an increase in money spent." I walked him back to the front door. "Well, you have a list of things you need, correct, Miss Carpenter." He asked as he got his over coat, and umbrella. (They were both still covered in green goop). I nodded and helped him get the things on with the least damage to his powder blue silken shirt.

"Is there anything else that you want from me?" I asked.

"Yes, actually, I need your telephone number and what time you want me to pick you up on Friday." He smirked at me. I know I raised my eyebrows with a small delight.

"Are you asking me out?" I pointed to myself dramatically. He nodded still smirking at me. "Well then, how does seven sound?"

"Wonderful" he smiled. I quickly wrote out my number and gave it to him. He kissed my hand and bid me goodbye. "Oh, and Miss Carpenter," I turned back to him. "Wear something nice." I nodded and waved goodbye.

After he left, I danced all the way back into my office. It was the happy dance. No not even, it was the extremely overjoyed awfully ecstatically happy dance. I was still dancing around my office when my phone rang. I sighed still smiling widely as I answered it. "Hello." It was Lissa. She invited me to meet her for a late lunch at a local café. I hung up and went to tell Mr. Wonka what I was doing. I went to his door and was about to open it when I thought better of it. I went over to my purse where I stuck my rain poncho, pulled it out, and proceeded to pull it on my body. Ha, if Mr. Wonka thought he was going to get me this time he had another thing coming. I smirked to myself and threw the door open. I steeled myself for an explosion, but there was none. Mr. Wonka was nowhere to be seen. I searched over the room a little bit, but I still couldn't find him. I shrugged and wrote him a little note on his desk. The pencil was funny. I was smudging all over the paper. I took it in my hands and examined it closely. As I was examining it, I poked my nail into it. It squished in and made an indent. I pulled the stuff from under my nail and smeared it from on my fingers. It was chocolate. He had invented a piece of chocolate look a like pencils. I sighed and searched in his desk for something to write with, but I didn't find anything. I sighed and decided that I was going to lunch anyway.

I walked to the little café where Lissa wanted to meet me. It was a quaint little place, called the Greystone Café. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst place to eat. I walked in and saw her sitting there slurping up a drink. She smiled and waved me over to her spot. I sat down in the chair at her table. "Hey babe, how are you?" She asked me with a touch of excitement.

"Well, I'm alive, so…" I trailed off trying to think of something else to say, but nothing came to mind. "I'm alive, that's about it." Lissa laughed at me, and I shook my head.

"Yeah, well you trying to go for a boy bubble look?" She asked as she giggled into her straw. I knitted my brow and looked down at myself. After which I felt like an idiot, an idiotic idiot. When I left work, I was still wearing my plastic rain poncho to protect myself from my employer. I suppose I got so distracted by other things that I forgot to take the dumb thing off. Oh, did I feel officially stupid. I sighed and pulled the poncho off. Apparently, it was just small enough that as I pulled it up, my shirt came up with it. I could feel cold air on the small of my back. I stopped mid action and tried to push my shirt back down. I felt my eyes get wide as I realized I was stuck. Lissa looked at me questioningly for a moment before she burst out laughing. "Goodness, Jules, what's the matter?" She chortled. I glared at her evilly.

"Well, I'm so glad _you_ find this funny." I snapped. Lissa just sat there and watched me writhe. She sucked up her drink and smiled at me the whole time. "Well, don't all rush to help me all at once." I growled. Lissa laughed at me, then her eyes darted to something behind me. From the giggly smile on her face, I assumed that this was going to benefit her humor. "Lissa, this isn't funny! Will you help me?" I whined with a small little stamp of my foot.

"No," She giggled. "But I'm sure this fine gentlemen will help you." She nodded to some one, I assumed a man, behind me. "Sir, will you help a damsel in distress?" She asked the mystery person. I felt some one pull my poncho over my head, and lose it from my arms. I immediately pushed my shirt down, blushing furiously. There were certain things that I didn't want the whole world to see. Things like the green blotchy fungal looking splotches on my back, for one. I stared down into my lap for a few minutes muttering words of gratitude, before I looked up at the man who helped me. I stopped mid sentence. My rescuer was none other than the firemen, Hugh Wolfson. Why on earth would I think it would be anyone else, because that would mean that something went right for me? "Thank you," I fidgeted in my seat wondering what to do. Thankfully, Lissa cut in and offered him a seat.

"No, actually, I have some costumers I need to get to." He smiled. "But, Miss Carpenter, next time you want to disrobe, please, do it some where like a bedroom."

Lissa took that statement to be the dirty Britt that she was and make an innuendo. "Yeah, well next time, maybe it'll be yours." She laughed. I felt my cheeks go bright red and I just stared down at my drink. Hugh bid us both good bye and walked off. "Well, that went all right."

"All right?" I cried. "You call that all right! I hate to see what you call bad." I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Lissa that was the firemen that I told you about, the really cute one that gave me his number the other day." I moaned slumping down in my hair and laying my chin against the table.

She smirked widely at me. "Yes," She laughed. "I know." Lissa waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "I went to art school with him before I dropped out. I knew he owned the café and when you told me about it I thought it was the perfect time for you two to meet again." I just closed my eyes.

"Well, next time, do me a favor and don't think." I narrowed my eyes at her. She was wearing a black polo, a pair of khaki pants, and black shoes. "Shouldn't you be at work?" I asked her sharply.

Again, she smirked at me. "I am. This is the job I got." She continued to grin at me. My shoulders slumped and I placed my head in my arms. "That's why I asked you to come here." She beamed.

I wanted to tell her off, I wanted to say something callous and mean, but I didn't. I just offered her a blank look. "All right," I breathed, "as much fun as this had been, I have to get back to work to my insane employer who is slightly more sane than you are." I stood up and just as I was about to leave. Suddenly, a loud noise sounded from outside the window. I jumped with a loud squeak and stared at the person plastered against the wall. It was my employer! He apparently was trying to walk through glass. I sighed and ran out of the café. "Mr. Wonka!" I called as I ran over to help him up. "Are you all right?" He stood there rubbing his forehead for a minute then looked at me.

"You left" he whined. "I went to find you Lady and you left." His violet eyes were large and doe-like. I almost felt badly for him, but then he gave me an indignant little stamp of his foot. I felt like a mother arguing with her three year old child. "Why did you leave?" He demanded.

"Mr. Wonka, I left because I had to go to lunch. Please lets get back to Cherry Street and then we can discuss this like normal people." I tried to reason with him. In the back of my mind, I scoffed at the thought of him being normal. What ever had happened to this man had left him slightly more than insane. Suddenly he perked up.

"YEAH!" He shouted. I stiffened and stared at him pointedly. "We can go back and I can show you my latest creation- edible clothes." I wanted to cry in frustration.

Finally, I gave up. As I said in my youth, "Just nod your head and say yes." I sighed. "Yes, of course Mr. Wonka, let's go, please." The people passing by were giving us odd looks, which, after today I decided I wasn't going to let it bother me anymore. I had a seriously deep feeling that it was going to become a very common thing in the near future. We proceeded to go back to the store at Cherry Street. I still had a lot of work to do on the shop getting everything ready to pass the health inspection. After a little while of assuring Mr. Wonka that I would not leave with out telling him, we went back to our separate jobs. I started organizing a list of everything that had to be prepared, machinery, utensils, uniforms, sundry other things. I yanked out the phone book of its drawer and flopped it open. I began writing down names of companies and manufacturers. I was calling number after number when I heard Mr. Wonka over the loud speaker yelling for me. I jumped from my chair and burst into his room. "MR. WONKA WHAT'S THE MATTER?" I yelled breathlessly.

He smiled at me triumphantly and held up a syringe. "I perfected it! Lady!" I stared at him blankly. I had run in here utterly terrified that he had fallen in the shark tank and was bleeding badly. I wanted to say several things at once, but nothing came out. I just looked at him and turned on my heel and left. "Wait lady!" He shouted running after me failing his arms wildly. "WAIT!" He shouted; it was too late I had already shut the door. There was a loud bang on the other side. I shot a wondering glance up to the ceiling; wishing I knew what I had done to deserve this. My hand was still on the doorknob, so I opened it back up.

"Mr. Wonka- There was another loud smack and an even louder groan. I panicked and whipped the door shut behind me. "Oh, Mr. Wonka, Are you all right, that's what? The fourth time today?" I crouched down and took his face in the tips of my fingers. That's when I saw it in his eyes- I never was quite sure what it was, but it wasn't adult. It was a strange child like quality, one I had never seen before. I blinked at him and for a moment and thought I saw fire dancing in his eyes. He gave me a child like smile and I pulled away. "Are you all right, Mr. Wonka?" I asked again. He smirked.

"Come on, let's boogie!" He laughed and jumped to his feet and ran off.

The remainder of the afternoon I spent still organizing my papers getting everything ready for the people to start. I had a list of things that were important and phone numbers of things that I needed. I was terribly glad that the shop had it's own factory. Actually, it was really very amazing that a shop was in such an odd place and from the bills I saw at such a good price. The rent wasn't that much and it was so huge. I was bored with my office and began spinning around in my chair. Suddenly, I got he urge to walk around a little bit and explore the place. I hadn't really seen that much of it expect the actually factory. There was another layer up stairs that I had not seen. I wandered upstairs and opened the door and was faced with a stark white hallway. I furrowed my brow slightly and stared down the hallway. Each door looked the same, nothing but a nice brown panel; the only thing different about each was their lock. All the locks were special in some way. At the very end however, there was a little arched door made from plain wood, but very intricately decorated. I tried the door- I'm not really sure why, because I knew it was locked. I was right the door was locked. "_Well this was quiet a useless adventure."_ I thought ruefully as I laid my hand flatly on the door. I looked down at my watch and realized that it was time to go.

"Mr. Wonka!" I called into the store as I grabbed my coat. There was no answer. "Oh, what is this man's problem?" I asked no in particular. "Every time I want to leave he always disappears." I muttered. I waited for a little while at my desk aimlessly drawing little circles on a piece of scrap paper. Thirty minutes later there was still no Mr. Wonka. "Oh, well, he has my numbers." With that I got up and left.

Friday came and I was severely excited. I had a date and he was going to pick me up at seven. I went to my closet and thumbed threw my wardrobe. "No, no, no, not even, ew that looks moldy." I threw each item out in its turn. "AH!!" I screamed in frustration and threw myself on the bed. Lissa ran into my room.

"What's the matter?" She asked breathlessly.

"I don't have anything to wear!" I wailed smothering my face with a nearby pillow. "Not a single thing" I knew I was being overdramatic, but this was one of the rare occasions when a man actually liked me. Lissa sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, what on earth am I going to do? That horrendous Wonka man has ruined every good suit I own." I continued in a silly anguish.

"Oh, stop whining." She scoffed. "Come on, you can wear something of mine." Lissa grabbed my hand and pulled me to the huge suitcases in the extra room. Why she wasn't unpacked was totally beyond me, but still. She pushed the largest suitcase on its back and unzipped it. "Were you actually planning to wear a suit to your date?" She asked me with a laugh.

"I was 'til I found out my boss ruined all of my good ones." I whined. She laughed and then suddenly clothes started flying at me. She was muttering various forms of the word "no" until she pulled out a black dress. It wasn't as long as my calf length suit skirt, or as high as my shirt shells, but before I could protest, Lissa had me stuffed into the dress. It barely reached my knees and every time I pulled the hem down, I had to pull the neck up. It defeated its own purpose. "I can't wear this!" I shrieked.

"Oh, yes you can" She tossed a pair of black strap heals at me. "Besides, you have to finish getting ready in- oh say ten minutes." She crossed her arms and smirked at me as I pulled on the elegant shoes. I quickly buckled the shoes and stared at my watch. "So I guess you'll just have to make due," She giggled.

"Oh CRAP!" I ran back to my room. Actually, it was more of a hop so I could buckle the other shoe. I didn't do much with my stick straight hair and only put a tiny bit of makeup on. Then was the mad dash to get everything I needed together. "I'm forgetting something I just know it." I said, as I searched my small black sequenced purse (another loan from Lissa's).

"Well, a wallet might be good." She laughed at me holding up my wallet. I sighed and took it from her. "It's cold out, and more than likely going to rain tonight." She handed me a nice velvet jacket and my umbrella.

"Lissa remind me to thank you when I get back." I chuckled. She gave me a quick hug and I ran out the door. He had just pulled up in his nice car, the one he ran into me with. I chuckled at the strange memory. This was going be one of the best nights I'd ever had. When I was young, I didn't have many dates, so this was a special treat for me. He got out and opened the car door for me.

"Good Evening," he smiled. "My, you do look so lovely tonight." He helped me into the car.

"Hello," I said. I could feel a girlish blush grace my cheeks. "Thank you." I replied to both the compliment and the help he was giving me. We drove off to the restaurant. It was an elegant place. The host led us a secluded little table in the back. He seated me and then disappeared to the front again. I made small talk with James. He was seriously smart and had study in several countries. It was so impressed by him my own degree in Business almost embarrassed me. Of course, then he spoke five languages fluently. I had to stop my heart from fluttering when he spoke French to me. I don't know why, I actually don't like the French, well maybe their food- but that's besides the point.

Our food came, I had let me order for me because I couldn't read the menu, but what ever it was looked really tasty. We were laughing when I heard some commotion in the front. "I wonder what that is." I said still laughing at whatever incredibly funny thing that he had said. He looked at too and then furrowed his gorgeous face.

"Isn't that your employer?" He asked. I stared at the door way a little more intently and sure enough there he was. MR. WONKA WAS HERE! I felt my eyes go huge as he began to argue with the waiters.

"She's here silly!" He laughed, glancing in my direction. I tried to hide my face as quickly as possible. "THERE!" I heard him shout in a childish voice. Never mind that plan, what to do just go about my business and pretend as if I didn't know him. That seemed the best plan right now. I heard several shrieks, the clatter and shatter of dishes, and a loud resounding, "LADY!" I groaned inwardly and turned to look at him with horror in my face. "Lady here you are!" He was still shouting like a petulant three-year-old. I didn't know what to do, so I grabbed his hands.

"Mr. Wonka!" I hissed. "Will you kindly SHUT UP!" I growled. He looked at me with wondering violet eyes. He nodded and I sighed. "Now, why are you here?" I asked.

"You gotta come see the factory!" He said excitedly.

"Why is something wrong?" I snapped, standing up. He just laughed and jerked me along. "Wait, Mr. Wonka, please tell me what's going on!" I demanded. He didn't say anything to me, but continued to drag me along. I dug my heels into the carpet. Of course, whenever that man got near me, my life would always belt me upside the head, hard. The heel snapped and the next thing I knew I was lying on my back in some food. It got on my- oh crap on Lissa's dress. James was at my side in an instant and Mr. Wonka took the opportunity to grab my hand and drag me along again. He pulled me down the street towards the store. Cherry street was far away and I was walking funny since I was missing a heel. At that moment in my life, I hated this man pulling me along talking nonsensically.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Cherry Street Shop Mystery

Chapter 3: Cherry Street Shop Mystery

"Move your rosy little tosies, Lady!" Mr. Wonka whined as he jerked me along. I allowed it, stumbling over myself. It really wasn't worth fighting anymore. I was emotionally and physically exhausted. "LADY!" He yelled. Apparently, I had slowed my pace. He gave me a good jerk and I pulled forward almost falling on my face. Oh, I had enough of this! He was going to drive me insane. I grunted and plopped down on the ground. That had been on my list of things I DID NOT want to do today, but apparently, it was on my list of stupid things I wanted to do. I forgot the law of gravity, but remembered it as Mr. Wonka came plummeting down to the ground. He landed on his back and stared up at me. "Teehee, I can see up your nose." He laughed. No, it wasn't a laugh, it was a nauseating giggle.

"Mr. Wonka" I started trying to keep my temper. "Will you please **GET OFF ME**?" I yelled through grit teeth. He jumped up and stared at me. I sat there on the ground still. My tear streaked face contorted into some sort of angry snarl. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" I yelled. With some sort of strange satisfaction, I watched his usually happy child like face fall. "Ever since I have met you my life has been a waking nightmare!" I screamed ignoring the staring people passing us. "Tonight, you come in and ruin my date, drag me out, ruin my friend's dress- Not only have ruined nearly everything in my wardrobe, but you're starting on someone else's stuff. And you break my shoes drag me across town like some sort of- I can't even think of anything to say!" I continued. I started backing him into a wall. I wanted to hurt him and cry.

Mr. Wonka looked at me with big violet eyes. He was terrified, that I could plainly see. "But, Lady, I only wanted to show you something."

"What did you want to show me Mr. Wonka? How insane you are?" I snapped, slapping my hands together. "Everyday that I see you, you show me how insane you are." That's when I heard it; a tiny little sniffle escaped him. I groaned.

"Gosh, Lady, I'm sorry." He sniffled. I saw the big tears well up in his eyes. "I just wanted you to see something." The tears started rolling down his cheeks. I sighed and my anger abated some.

"Mr. Wonka," I replied firmly. "Please don't cry; I can't handle it right now." He continued to weep, and despite my resolve to not let stares bother me anymore. I couldn't have the grown owner of a chocolate store crying the middle of the street. I caved of course. "Mr. Wonka, please stop crying. Let's go to the store and you can show me what ever it is that you want to show me." He sniffed and looked at me. I felt like a mother giving into her little three-year-old.

"Really?" He asked, clasping his hands together. He started jumping up and down gleefully.

I clamped a hand down on his shoulder to stop him. "Yes, Mr. Wonka let's get a cab ok." We hailed a cab. While we were waiting, Mr. Wonka was dancing around, literally, to no music. I just ignored him and opened the car door. Before he got in, Mr. Wonka turned to me.

"So you're not mad at 'ne more Lady?" He asked.

"No Mr. Wonka, I'm not mad." I forced a smile on my face and pushed him into the car. "I'm furious." Of course, he didn't hear that part. I got into the car and told the driver to take us to Cherry Street. It was a long quiet ride and I kept thinking how I didn't have any money on me. Why, of course another mishap of Wokna's was that I had forgotten my purse in the restaurant. Ah well, I had a small thing of petty cash there at the store. Well, I hope this was important, because I'm fairly sure one of his crazy experiments could wait until Monday. We walked inside the store and I went to my desk to get the petty cash. I ran back outside and paid the taxi.

When I got back inside, Mr. Wonka was waiting for me, again dancing to invisible music. I sighed and looked at him. "All right, what is this thing that you want to show me?" I asked him impatiently. He smiled manically and bolted down the stairs to the main part of the factory. I sighed looked up at the sky and begged the question, "why me?" as I took off my shoes and started after the man. As I came down the cold metal steps I really didn't know what to expect from this man; he was always doing something insane. Maybe there was going to be a giant vat of piranhas and he was going to shove me in and send me to my death- not likely, I wouldn't die so easily. More than likely, I would be badly maimed and then sent straight back to work. My thoughts had me a little lost, and I never noticed that there was a large piece of machinery in front of me. I ran directly into it with a loud, piercing scream. I pulled myself up from the ground using the mystery machine and then stared around me. Beautiful glistening machines surrounded me. I felt my jaw drop just a little bit, I screamed when Mr. Wonka came around.

"It's really neat, itn it, Lady!" He clapped his hands.

I suddenly found that my voice was only going come out in a high- pitched squeak. "Mr.- Mr. Wonka what is all this?" I asked. He laughed and knocked on my forehead.

"Heh, you're really funny, Lady! It's machines!" He continued to bop around, running his gloved hands along the shiny metal.

"Yes, I can see that, but how- why is it here?"

"To make chocolate, of way." He chuckled. I ignored the weirdness of his statement and turned to him.

"MR.WOKNA DID YOU STEAL THIS STUFF?" I screamed at him. He stared at me, scared. "I mean where did you get it." I asked. I was trying to calm down; at this point, I think I would take my employer crying in the streets to grand theft. "_Oh my word, how am I going to explain this to James?"_ I thought covering my face with my hands. This was insane.

"No, Lady, I don't steal." He laughed. "I'm not a piece of metal." He giggled strangely. I gave him a look and he sobered. "Anyway, I have some friends and they told me that this is just the stuff I need to start my store." With that, he walked away his crushed velvet coat swishing behind him. I sighed. I didn't know how much more of this I could take. This man was going to have me in the funny farm soon and I was going to be so glad when that happened. I really couldn't think of anything that could be worse than working with this man. I sighed and walked around, everything seemed strange unlike any machines I had ever seen before. I passed one and read the inscription on it. "Taffy Puller," I mused, while inspecting the machine. It was large and had several long metal pieces that looked as if the revolved. As I looked at all the insane machinery, I imagined the insurance that would have to go with it. I trudged back to the main office and gave one last look before shutting the door behind me. Monday was going to be a doozey.

I jerked the door open to my apartment. Lissa stood there, ready to greet me; at first, she seemed excited, but then her face fell. "What happened to you and where are my shoes?" I gave her a dark glare.

"Lissa," I breathed. "I've had a horrible night. I'm going to bed. Yell at me tomorrow." I walked passed her. As I went, I pulled off the dress and disappeared into my room. I stared at the bed. It was covered with clothes all of them were ruined. I let out a frustrated scream and threw everything off the bed. "I hate that man!" I screamed, again. After that, I flung myself on the bed and sobbed myself to sleep.

I rolled over in my bed and felt extremely exhausted. Was this worth it, really worth it? I mean, everyday I went to work, it was worse than the day before. It seemed like nothing was going to ever get better. My eyes felt tired and puffy. Like a flood, last night came back to me, and I wanted to start sobbing all over again. I didn't however; instead I pushed my body up so that I could take a shower and get ready for the day. I took a shower, got dressed and then I went into the kitchen. A note on the refrigerator from Lissa notified me, "Hey, hon, I went to work. Don't worry about the clothes." I smirked at the note and opened the fridge. Apparently, some where in the week, some one had been shopping, but I didn't really remember whom it was. I really didn't care. There was nothing I wanted in there so I slammed it shut and opened the freezer. That's when I spied the peanut butter and chocolate ice cream. I grabbed the carton and a spoon and went into the living room.

I cut the tv on and sat down stuffing my face with the ice cream. An hour and one ice cream carton later, I was sleeping on the couch. It wasn't as peaceful as I could have asked for, but it was better than last night. I was still exhausted from Mr. Wonka's escapade, and I just needed to recoup. One of two things woke me up, either the horror movie on the television or the ringing of the doorbell. Either way, I was up. I ran to answer the door, but not before detouring to shut off the television. I got to the door and opened it a crack. Of course, I wasn't expecting anyone so I looked like a slob in my oversized t-shirt and shorts. I cracked the door open slightly and saw, who else, but James McEwen. He was standing there casually, in a pair of khaki slacks and blue button down, with the top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. I squeaked and slammed the door shut. What was I going to do? I was a mess, and so was the flat.

"Julia, is everything all right?" He asked me. I was panicking as I stuff things everywhere and ran to the back to dress a little more presentably. "Julia, are you all right?"

"Yeah," I yelled. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a minute. I'm not dressed." I ran to the back and threw on the first pair of clean jeans I found and ran a brush through my hair. I ran back to the door. Just before I yanked it, open I took a deep breath, so not to alert him to my running around, and pulled the door open. "James" I said with a giant smile. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." He looked at me warily. "I heard banging. Are you all right?"

"Me, yeah, I'm great." I leaned in the doorway, but then realized that we were still standing outside. "Oh, well, why don't you come in?" I moved out of his way. He walked in; as he passed, I caught a whiff of his cologne. Wow, he smelt good.

"I'm sorry I didn't call, but when I did no one answered." He looked around the place and then at me. "Oh, here," He handed me my purse. I smiled and felt my face go red. "You forgot this last night."

"Thanks," I could feel my face going a bright red. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that, my boss is a little- I searched for the right word. I looked up into James's eyes. He had curious look in them and I just laughed.

"Crazy?" He offered.

"Yeah, pretty much," I agreed. He smiled and walked into the living room. "Anyway, would you like something to drink, or eat, or something?" I was still fumbling with what to say. "Oh, please sit down, make yourself comfortable." He offered me a bright smile and sat down on the couch. We started talking quietly.

Monday came all too soon, and I found myself down in the factory walking around with James. We were trying to be as professional as possible, as we walked through the maze of machines. "Well, where ever these came from, they are exactly up to code, if not a little better. Of course there will be some safety precautions that will need to be made, but that just comes with the territory." He smiled at me. I nodded in agreement.

"That's good." I said finally. I had no idea what had come over me, whenever I was with James I seemed like a different person, or at least not me. I was giggly, and occasionally ditzy. "Well, then I guess that's everything. Now just to start hiring people." He looked at his watch and smirked.

"It's only eleven, I don't have anything else planned for another two hours; do you want to lunch?" He asked.

"Yes, but I can't." He seemed a little put out by that. "If I leave with out Mr. Wonka knowing, he'll have a fit and there'll be a repeat of Friday." I snorted. He nodded understanding. "I guess, some other time maybe?"

"Yes, of course," he leaned down and kissed my forehead. "I'll call you later." He left and I stood there gawking. I was about to go into a extremely happy dance, but Mr. Wonka called me into his office. I scrambled back up to the office, grabbed my rain poncho and walked into his room. At this moment, I think he could have blown us both to kingdom come and I wouldn't have noticed. That is how ecstatic I was.

I had become used to staying late in the evening working on paper work, especially since the factory was complete operational. I had so many papers, numbers, and things to do before the next day. One particular night I stayed later than usual. I heard a truck pull up. It startled me. It was two late for deliveries, and then Mr. Wonka walked past me smiling manically. He went all the way down stairs and shut the back door behind him. I went up to the window and looked out the blinds. There stood Mr. Wonka in his burgundy crushed velvet coat. Across from him stood two other people a handsome man and an elegantly beautiful woman. They pulled out several large trunks. I watched Mr. Wonka open the trunks and his pale white face splashed with color. I dropped my pen and clattered against my blinds. The man looked up at me and beckoned me down. I had no earthly idea why, but I felt compelled to comply. Slowly, I went down the stairs and out the back door.

As I approached them, I felt a sense of compelling curiosity overwhelm me and I walked up to them. "Hello" I greeted as politely as I could offering my hand to the woman first. "I'm Julia Carpenter." The woman looked at my hand as if it was a foreign object. I waited but then with drew it. "Um, Mr. Wonka if you don't mind, I'd like to know what's going on." I asked as respectfully as I could.

"Hmm… oh, yeah, this is Rusty and Ivy, they're elves." He smiled strangely at them. There were short men with beards that jumped out of the back of the truck; I assumed them dwarves. They picked up the trunks on little poles and marched it back into the shop.

"Right, I suppose, that there's really a Santa Claus with a lot of elves running around in his work shop!" I exclaimed a little exasperated.

The girl pulled herself to her full height. "_Don't _insult the elfin race like that. That Santa's elves thing is a big lot of nonsense." She humped and turned away. My eyes went a little wide and looked to Mr. Wonka. He was busy talking to the other man- um- Rusty. That was his name. They turned to me. Mr. Wonka walked over to me and motioned me to walk.

"Uh, Worker Lady, go make sure those dwarves are putting the trunks in the right spot. Then take them to the secret room. Kay?" He smiled and winked at me. I just stood there for a moment. He walked away from me.

"Mr. Wonka" I said. He turned back to me his coat tails swooshing with the motion. "I need the key."

"What key?" He asked innocently.

"For the room."

"What room?"

I leaned towards his ear. "The secret room."

He pulled back and smiled. "What secret room?" I inhaled. Have you ever wanted to just take some one hogtie them to a chair –upside down, and paint their hair electric blue. Well, I was having one those moments. I took a moment to compose myself before I blurted out.

"Mr. Wokna, give me the wretched key, so I can put the wretched trunks in the wretched secret wretched room." I exclaimed. The two people and even a few of the dwarves looked at me strangely.

"Oh, all right." He reached into his coat a pulled out a huge key ring and pulled off a huge heavy metal key. I took it and stormed into the store. Then I tripped over something. I saw what it was it was a trunk with six others stacked up beside it. They were huge. I lay there on the floor and bashed my forehead against it.

After a little while I stood up and prepared to drag the boxes up the stairs and to the secret room. It was a long laborious process. Finally I got them all up the stairs. It wasn't the second story either; it was the third floor with the white hall. I had to try every door, until I got to the last one. I took the key out of my pocket, unlocked the door, and pushed it open. I fumbled for a few minutes looking the light switch. I stepped into the room letting the door go. It started shutting, but I did not really notice until I heard the click. Then my heart stopped, I felt along the wall until found the doorknob. I began turning it frantically.

I must admit that I am claustrophobic, to the point of distraction. I had issues with small spaces, such as the public bathrooms that are fully closed- those terrify me! It had something to do with the fact that my cousin locked me in a hot, stuffy, dark closet. He left me there and I passed out. Now, I was in the dark secret room. I felt like Bluebeard's bride when she opened the forbidden door. Oh no! I was getting delirious and making strange references to fairy tales. I stumbled backward and tripped over something again. Then let out the most pitiful scream as I felt something brush against my leg. I am what is so not endearingly know as a worst-case senarioist. A normal person would think that the thing against my leg was something logical, not me I thought it was a colony of huge, hairy spiders waiting to sink their fangs into my soft fleshy leg. I screamed repeatedly. I knew I ran out of breath before someone knocked on the door. "Lady," Mr. Wonka's child like voice called through the door. "Lady, are you in there?"

"NO! MR WONKA, I'M NOT IN HERE! I SCREAMING FOR NO REASON!" I screamed back at the man.

"Ok then, I'll go look somewhere else." I heard the click of his boots as he retreated from the door.

"WAIT, Mr. Wonka, don't go!" I called after him. "Mr. Wonka I'm trapped in here!" I yelled.

"Well, whatcha go an' do that for, Lady?" He laughed strangely. As I listened to him, I felt a sense of doom wash over me.

"Mr. Wonka, please, just get me out!" I screamed. I could feel hysteria coming very quickly. I rarely got hysterical, but now at that moment, I figured I could make an exception. I was going to die in this room with the spiders. SPIDERS! I hated spiders and what about the one was going to stick it's huge disgusting drooling fangs into my leg.

"I can't" He chuckled. "You have the key!" He laughed and knocked on the door.

"No, I don't," I could hear my voice go up an octave with each word. "It's in the door." I squeaked at the end. I buried my face in my hands, I knew that spider was going bit me at any moment, and I was going to die. I imagined the spider was at least a foot wide, and the fangs were as round as pencil end. I was crying hysterically, suddenly the door swung wide open. I didn't even give it a second thought. I jumped to my feet and bolted down the hall. I think I lost my brown pumps, but that didn't really matter as I scrambled into the office. I didn't even get my purse I ran out the door and all the way home

The next day I started the hiring process. I walked in that morning and saw my purse sitting on the chair and I smirked remembering last night. I heard clanging coming from the factory area. I pulled the blinds and saw Mr. Wonka scrambling manically across the room from one machine to the next. I went out on to the landing of the steps that led to the factory. "Mr. Wonka!" I yelled. "What are you doing?"

He stopped for a moment and then looked at me blankly. "LADY!" He shouted. One moment I was staring at him on the factory floor and the next, he was hugging me tightly. "YOU'RE NOT DEAD!"

"What?" I asked, making a poor attempt to get out of his vice like grip. "Of course, I'm not dead!" I finally got away from him. I hardly got one step before he enveloped me in another rib crushing hug. "Mr. Wonka, why would I be dead?" He loosed his grip and then laughed manically. He blinked at me three times, laughed again, and then walked away. I sighed "_Well, that was an ordeal and half."_ I thought as I opened the door to the office. I sat down and began thumbing through the applications put in at least a week ago. I think every one in this small town hoped that the chocolate store would open up a good number of jobs, and maybe even stimulate the economy. I started alphabetizing the names, for some odd reason. It loved it when things were in alphabetical order. I came across two applications with the same last name Bucket. (When I first read it, my mind flashed back to the sitcom where the woman demanded that the name "Bucket" pronounced Bouquet.) I had a little laugh as I put Joe and Josephina in order with the rest of the applications.

I was sitting there quietly when I heard the door open. I looked up to see Hugh Wolfson standing there in his work uniform. He was holding a bag, and two coffees. "Hi" He flashed me a smile.

"Hello" I said a little awkwardly. "How are you?"

"I'm good. You?"

"Well, enough," then there was a long uncomfortable silence. It was not so much because he was unwelcome; I just was wondering why he was there. He set the bag down and looked at me with a grin. "Uh, what's all this for?"

His brightness faded quickly, "You ordered this." He said. I looked at him for a moment with the blankest stare I could manage.

"No, I didn't" I informed him.

"Yes, you did. I talked to your assistant on the phone." He argued. I toyed with my pencil for a moment and continued to stare at him.

"No, you didn't." I countered.

"Yes- he stopped and stared at the ceiling with a small laugh. "Lissa" He chortled. I felt a little left out at what the joke was, so I repeated him.

"Lissa?" I asked.

"Yeah, Lissa" His mouth stretched into a thin line that was somewhere between a smile and a frown. Realization came to me and I began laughing. "I'm gonna kill her. How much do I owe you?" I asked him.

"It's on the house, however as payment you can go out to the carnival that's coming this weekend." He smiled as he jammed his hands in his pockets trying to seem innocent. I laughed; I was about to answer when a messenger came in carrying a vase with five pink roses. In the center, as if it were framed (undoubtedly that was the desired effect) was a dark red rose. He set it down, asked me to sign and then handed me a note with my name written on it in a strong, yet elegant hand. I opened it and skimmed it quickly. Hugh had been sitting there staring at me with curiosity. I gave a mirthless snicker. I looked up at Hugh with a wry smile, and thus started my actual career with Willy Wonka Chocolates, everything that could go wrong did.


End file.
